Tales of Love: Fragmented Dreams
by Memoria Aurion
Summary: KratosXOC. Yuan has a secret. He should have told Kratos earlier. Did he? NO. And that's why this happened. An old enemy brings back the old ways in a new style that made Kvar look harmless.
1. Tale 3

PLEASE REMEMBER: this story starts in the middle of a tale. The beginning of it is in an RP on GaiaOnline called "Tales of the Trinity" as my computer happened to eat the first two chapers!

Fanfiction: A Piece of Heart: Myth VS Memory

Genre: Possibly everything, of course

Game: Tales of Symphonia

Notes: This is yet another chapter of my MemoriaXKratos tale, expanding the world that they live in, forty years after the worlds were reunited. I have not given the world a new name, as it distracts from the ending of the game, you know! Heh heh, with the addition of Yuan and some flashbacks, you might see deeper into Memoria's soul and the missing pieces of the Cruxis Regime. I see it like a manga, belonging all to the same series, like Rurouni Kenshin, but each volume has it's own title. That's just me, though. Oh, the entire tale is "Tales of Love" as corny as it might sound.

Summary: ToL update! Ran-Chan and Kratos have been adventuring for two days, and they meet an old friend from the revolution. This leads to unexpected turns of events, with the pasts of the two on the line. Rated for language, alcohol, and sexual references.

Disclaimer: The characters and places mentioned in this fanfiction belong to Namco, and their Tales Studio to be more precise. The events that are original are mine, as they are only my theories. Ran-Chan/Memoria, Ten-Chan/Tenko, Aurora, Yoshitaka Ishada, and Yoshio are entirely mine. They are MY original characters. You may not steal them, and I have not stolen Kratos, Yuan, Mithos or anyone belonging to Namco. I've stated they belong to them. Arigatou Gozaimasu!

Tales of Love

Volume 3

"A Piece of Heart: Myth VS Memory"

_"Sister," a boy said standing beside Ran-Chan with a sword in hand, "You are so brave."_

_Ran-Chan smiled as she ruffled the boy's hair. "No, I'm not. I rely on the strength of the ones I love for my courage. I fight for a world better for you and me. You were just a baby back when we were saved, but I can tell you that we're going to make the world better. For us both." She hugged him tightly._

_"What about Mother? Will we not fight for her sake?" he asked. "Mother is like us!"_

_"Mother is elven. She will never understand how we feel. We are half-elven. Father was human, and he is dead. Along side Mithos, we'll make our hearts stronger and our place in the world!" his sister told him straight up. "Have you been training with Kratos-sensei to learn the sword, Yoshio?" _

_Yoshio nodded, hugging his sister back. "Yes," he said quietly. "He expects a lot out of me since I'm your sibling, but I... I'm not like Father. He was a ninja..."_

_"Father was from Mizuho. I named in Elven tradition, but taking after him... you named as a member of the ninja clan, you are more like the elves with magic," Ran-Chan said to him, letting go. She knew as well as everyone else that he wasn't suited for the sword, but Mithos wouldn't let him go any farther away from Ran-Chan than she could see. It was disappointing to see. "I will talk to the lead of our mages, Yoshio. I can talk to Lord Yuan if you wish."_

_Yoshio pulled on his sister's bow when she turned and said, "No, sister, I'm afraid... to be without you... I'm going to let everyone down if I go too far from you!"_

_"Lord Mithos told me that I was to keep you safe," Ran-Chan said. "I'm going to do that anyway. You're my brother, and I'll never let anyone ever hurt you..." She turned around and extended her hand. "Give me the blade. My lesson's coming up soon."_

_"This is Father's, isn't it?" he asked, handing the sword over. "The Masamune, right?"_

_"...no. That's the Kokoro Blade," she corrected him. "The Masamune is at his grave... this is my replica of it." She turned to leave again, and her brother smiled. "But Father's soul is with me everyday. Yoshio, when this is all over, I'll take you back to Hiemdall, and we're going to make sure you become the master of mana, okay?"_

_"Yeah! Thanks, Memoria."_

_"Sure."_

Ran-Chan had been trying to get those memories out of her head for quite some time now. They had bothered her so badly, she drug herself into a bar to drink those feelings away. Kratos came with her, not to drink, but to talk her out of drowning her sorrows in a bit of forgetfulness. It wasn't going to do her or him any good if she was to get drunk. She was on her third sake, all ready with a buzz.

"Listen, that's your last one," Kratos said sternly. "I know you wanted to sing on stage, but with all that's been going on lately, I think it's unwize that you catch the public's attention." He looked up to see Yuan, whom they had met in the bar just twenty minutes ago due to Ran-Chan's extreme loudness. "Yuan, what's wrong?"

Yuan was thinking, and had been for quite a while since he saw Kratos again. "Cruxis is no more, yet we still live on with this... curse," he said quietly. "I kept wondering if you knew any of Mithos' extreme secrets. About the Forsaken Blood that kept the Angels in check, perhaps? Seeing you made me wonder again, as I drowned the thoughts in the past back over thirty years ago." Yuan looked at Ran-Chan carefully, noting all of her specifications as an Angel. She didn't show any Angelic Qualities since he laid eyes on her, and niether did Kratos. "What made the seal so strong?"

Ran-Chan knew the answer to that. "Sacrifice," she answered, knocking back another drink. "No matter how hard my head hurts, I'll never forget any of Mithos' real secrets. I can't, after all." She put the glass down and slid it to Yuan. "Give me another, would you? I'm trying to kill memories here," she said, agitated.

"Memoria," Yuan said, filling up the glass. "You aren't getting any more. This glass isn't for you." He drank it himself. "I don't like sake, but I don't want you to have it. However... I would like to pull you back into the management room, for I have questions that need to be answered." His blue hair surrounded his handsome face, and waved an arm up so a door flew open behind him. "Kratos, Memoria... please follow me," he said as he turned to leave.

Since she wasn't even going to move from the bar until she had another drink, Kratos led Ran-Chan to follow his old friend. "Yuan might ask you about what secrets you know," he said. "It's best that you answer to the best of your ability."

She looked down as they walked. Sorrow spread across her face as terror filled her mind. "Mithos will set his wrath on me if I do," Ran-Chan said, feeling Kratos' eyes look down upon her face. "I don't care if he IS dead, I don't want to face the horror of his wrath. He'll take away my every happiness as he did before... Kratos-sama..."

Kratos knew why she was afraid. She did not want to recall what the Cruxis overlord must have done to her, and this made him almost cry. He, as well as Yuan, did need to know Mithos' secrets if they were ever going to free the last angels if they never figured out the way to break the seal. Others did not have to fall in love to break the curse. It shouldn't have happened in the first place as far as Kratos was concerned, so any secrets that he didn't know could help those who remained slaves to The Church of Martel.

Yuan led them back into what seemed almost like a living room from a house. "Sit down where you like," he said, "this discussion might be a long one."

Ran-Chan glared back at her old fighting companion. "Yuan, if you plan to get the secrets out of me, this will take an eternity. I won't tell you. I won't lose Kratos-sama!" she shouted that out plainly as Kratos was drawn back, forcing himself to sit Ran-Chan down. "I won't!"

Kratos sat beside her and pulled her face to where she was looking him square in the eye. "I will not leave you for any reason," he said. "You know how I feel about you."

"But... this..." Ran-Chan said, tearing up. "This will take you from me... I don't want to be alone, Kratos-sama! Promise you'll stay by my side." She closed her eyes as Kratos let go of her face. "I'll tell you the secrets, and I won't hold anything back... if you promise..."

Yuan sat down, knowing that Kratos would do anything it took to set past errors right again.

Kratos put his arms around her, and gently kissed her ear. "I will stay by your side. I will forever be by your side, you know that," he said, letting her cry out her tears before she sat back up again.

When she finally did, her eyes were unfocused. She had removed her glasses to keep the present out of her mind. "Mithos... he was unusually cruel after he lost his sister... because of my younger brother being in the camp, he assigned him to work with me so he would die... knowing that he couldn't weild a sword, even if taught by Kratos-sensei. I was totally enraged when I found out. I felt like I was meaningless. One night..."

_Ran-Chan had cried without tears every night since Yoshio died. Yoshio, her magically enclined brother, had fallen years before in battle, and the man that she loved so much, Kratos, had not even passed a glance at her. Without the possibility of even having the love of the one she adored so, she felt life was totally meaningless. _

_The Lord of Cruxis, Lord Yggdrasill, had walked into her room, hearing the sobs of the lonely woman from far off. "Memoria, is that you?" he asked. "I hear your empty cries which releave nothing of your pain. Would you like... to become lifeless and not feel any pain at all?"_

_She sat up and looked at him. "I can not cry to release this sadness," she said. "No matter how hard I try, tears do not come. I can't let this out."_

_"Then I offer you a chance to be lifeless. Will you take my offer?" Yggdrasill asked, extending a hand. "Your brother died in battle to make his sister have a happy future in the age of Half-Elves. Kratos does not love you, nor has he seen the efforts you have made to try and make him love you. Your life is eternal sadness. Come with me, I will make you above all of that."_

_Ran-Chan reached for his hand and took it. "I... don't want to feel anything..." she said._

_Yggdrasill nodded. "That's good. Will you make a sacrifice to obtain that?" he was looking for someone so despirate to fufill his plan, and he knew that this young girl wouldn't hesitate to give what he needed to complete the ceremony of the seal._

_"...what do you ask of me, Lord Yggdrasill?"_

_"A Blood and Body Sacrifice. I want you to become the living seal of the Angels."_

_"That means that after Cruxis falls then if I am alive, they will continue to be your servants... isn't that right, sir?"_

_Yggdrasill laughed. "Will you give up your purpose as a mortal and obtain one in a new, lifeless form? Your brother would be happy... and I will allow you to work as Kratos' second-in-command to be close to him." His devilish nature seemed all to real, but to Ran-Chan, it was a miracle._

_She knew that if she was closer to Kratos, she could catch him and serve him to prove her devotion. "I will accept this sacrifice on the terms that I get to be close to the man I love," she said quietly. "He may not love me, but soon I will change that."_

"And so... I went to a purification ritual and was then sent to the four Seraphim's gate to gain the approval of the asension into Angelhood," Ran-Chan said, trying not to look at either man, as it would invoke plenty more pain than just talking about it.

"I remember that," Yuan said. "The reason why you requested to become an angel was because you wanted to make sure that Martel was revived to reunite the worlds as soon as possible." He looked over at Kratos. "That day you looked at Kratos with admiration in your eyes..."

Kratos remembered all too well. The process hurt him almost as much as it hurt her. "You wanted to become an Angel to be close to me?" he asked. "You didn't care about the worlds or anything else?" He glanced over to see her blank face telling the total truth.

"No, I didn't," she replied. "I was made into an Angel last night I saw Kratos before he left Cruxis. As a half-elf I live longer than humans, and it was my 23rd Kharlan year. Actually that was a few thousand years after the church was established. My heart ached to tell him what I felt, but that pain was nothing compared to the pain that Mithos..."

_Ran-Chan looked at Kratos, smiling. "Lord Kratos... I will always think of you as my sensei. As the last person that I talk to as a mortal, I ask you... please... remember me the way I was..."_

_Kratos nodded. "I don't want you to become an angel!"_

_"I need to do this," she said. "For Yoshio and for Father."_

_"...I see..." Kratos said, walking up to her. "If you feel that you must, then I will not stop you," he added, ruffling her hair. "Yoshio was a bright boy, even if he wasn't ment to be a swordsman."_

_Ran-Chan's face was redder than Kratos' hair. She started to speak, "My memories of him are important. I will live on for him. And... for..."_

_Yggdrasill pulled her shoulder. "Come now. Kratos, I entrust you to take care of things in Wegalia. Now, please." He tugged at her, even though she wanted to race into his arms._

_Kratos turned after looking at his student's face one more time before he pulled out his wings and flew off._

_And for the last time, or so she thought, she felt horrible. She reached out for Kratos until Yggdrasill snatched her arms back._

_"It's time to become above this. You," Yggdrasill said to a worker angel. "This is the one. She's a special case, but to make her an angel... we also will make her the seal."_

_Angels came around Ran-Chan's body and lifted her up into a magic circle. One ripped off the top of her beautiful dress and stuck a bloody sword into her back. She reared out in pain, screaming for everyone she could remember. Kratos, her father, mother, sister and brother... none of them came to help, none of them came to say anything. Her blood fell into the middle of the circle, activating it's magic. _

_"Blood of half-elven pours into you, great seal! Origin, I sacrifice this blood to you! Make my wishes into a reality! Those who wish to be lifeless and live forever shall, even after the fall of my magic!" Yggdrasill shouted as Origin appeared. _

_"I do not take the blood of anyone. This young lady is not the one of the pact, nor is she the seal to me. Mithos, you can't do this, even if I am your guardian summon spirit!" Origin cried. "Let her go!"_

_Ran-Chan fell over and out of the reaches of the lower worker angels, landing in the middle of the seal. Her back felt paralyzed and her life slipped out from her. She was dying there. "K... Kr-...Kratos..." she said, "I... I love... you..."_

_"Save her!" Origin ordered of Yggdrasill. "A very dedicated young woman is about to die, Mithos! What happened to you! After you lost your sister, you became very coldhearted..."_

_"I'll save her only IF you make the magic last forever!" Yggdrasill yelled back._

_Origin felt compelled to save the young lady's life, making her the Blood Seal of Cruxis. "With her blood can this curse be lifted... when she is allowed to pass on, she will take your magic with her, even if you are alive!" He worked his magic on Ran-Chan's body and left without another word._

_Yggdrasill gave orders to every worker angel around. "Now give her the Aionis! That will ignite the transformation, then we will heal her up. You, carve into her body the Derris Emblem. After it's all done, take her to her room in Wegalia, I'll set up the remaining requirements."_

_Ran-Chan lay there, not feeling a thing. She tried to call for Kratos once again, but she couldn't say anything either. Her heart was gone..._

She fell over, back into Kratos' arms, and the collar of her kimono fell open. The emblem still existed and Kratos was appalled. Yuan, however, wasn't that amazed.

"So? Are we going to take her to Heimdall and finish this thing or what?" Yuan asked. "If that's what it takes to free the others of this curse, then by all means then I'm going to."

"NO!" Kratos shouted as he stood up immediately. "Yuan, I won't let you harm a hair on her head!"

Yuan shrugged. "Every time you catch a wonderful woman, it ends them up in trouble, Kratos!" He said, standing up. "She's been in love with you for thousands of years, much more than Anna could have ever imagined! If it wasn't for you, then none of this nonsense would be going on!"

"That's bullshit," Kratos declared.

"Your son defeated Mithos and ended Cruxis. Your previous wife died at the hands of the Angelous Project, and now this young lady, who's been around since the beginning, has to die to save the rest of us! Kratos, you are a curse to this world. Why the hell did you even come back after you left!"

Kratos turned around to see Ran-Chan almost lifeless, crying as hopeless as she had ever been. "I came back... for... I thought it would be all right for just once in my life that I do something for myself... to try to make things better than I had made them before. Yuan, I'm no longer an angel. I'm back to being my usual human self I was before the war. Memoria is now mortal as well," he explained, going over to her. "We broke the curse, not even trying to. I came back and now I'm myself... I won't lose another love to Mithos!"

Her heart rose at the words coming from his mouth were more and more supporting.

Yuan glared at Kratos. "My love died... she was the cause of... everything..." he said. "How do you think I felt then! You changed once you had a family, Kratos. Once you had what you were longing for, you didn't think of anyone else, ever again." He went to the other side of the room and pulled out his swallow from a closet. "For Martel, I have to finish this off..."

Ran-Chan's eyes lit up as she smiled. "You wish to finish me off, Yuan?" she asked, perking up. "I'm sorry, I don't care how drunk I might be... but I'll have to fight back. I won't give in without a fight, and dammit, I've been itching for a fight." She pulled her katana out, looking at her reflection in the blade for a moment.

With the shine sparkling back into her eyes, Ran-Chan fell to the floor. "No, I have no right to live so selfishly. All I wanted to do was show my love to Kratos-sama... I turned away living a life of lies as an elf, and the hand of another just because I was lustful... I couldn't be humble enough to accept what was offered and chased off for something better... I forced myself to be the blood seal because I selfishly couldn't take care of my own emotional struggles, and worse yet... I..."

Kratos kneeled down to see her eye-to-eye, cautiously. "No," he said, taking her into his arms. "Breaking the curse is easy enough, they just have to realize it. Collete and Lloyd both overcame. Yuan, just because Martel is dead doesn't mean that you can't be loved by her spirit. Even though you supported Mithos, Martel loves you... and even though I tried to run, feeling that it was punishment enough, Memoria loves me now... She is the only one who did after everything... and Martel has done the same for you."

His entire being was being solely devoted to her, and her greatest dream had become a reality. She noticed a piece of old magic start to make a change, but she didn't voice it.

Yuan fell to his knees sadly. He closed his eyes and saw the beautiful Lady Martel before him, standing there, waiting. "Martel!" he said outloud, as in his mind he took her hand like the gentleman that he was. "Are... you really... able to forgive me...?" He watched Martel smile and come close to kiss him. In the physical way of things, he was on the floor with tears floating out of his eyes. Martel said that she had never left Yuan's side since she died. Her spirit remained trapped in his heart, as Yuan clung to her despirately over so many a millenium. Never able to see her, Yuan had lost hope in ever having love again once she left the mortal coil. "My... Martel... please, go on... go to where spirits have their afterlife and I will meet you eventually," he said, wiping his eyes. "I'll meet you and Botta over there..."

The silence that filled the room for that short while afterward was horrifyingly loud. Ran-Chan was curled up in Kratos' arms, but Yuan was able to say goodbye without Martel present physically. The two watched Yuan pick himself up freely and notice that tears were running down his face.

"She... she set me... free..." he managed to say. "Martel was with me from the beginning of this whole thing. Always. Why wasn't I able to see her spirit before?"

Kratos just smiled and stayed silent until Ran-Chan started to flinch. "What's wrong?" he asked. "What's wrong? Tell me...!"

Memoria had kept herself under control pretty well, despite a very well placed Derris Emblem puppet encantation casted back on the day she became an angel. "Kratos-sama... it's... it's... Mithos!" she shouted. "He may have existed in the Cruxis Crystal but his soul... did not... go..." Her face only displayed a smile then. "Because you granted my one true wish... and I knew it was fufilled... it reacted... Help me once again, won't you!"

The only thing he knew he could do was kiss her, so he did. Kratos kissed her passionately, picking up her body into his arms once again. Once he released, he pressed his cheek against hers. "Come on," he said quietly. "I'm right here."

Her eyes, which were normally ice blue, now shined a deep red. Kratos let her body stand while he backed away slowly before she began to speak again. "Well then," Mithos' voice said out of her mouth. "From the looks of things, you granted her wish!" he shouted that with laughter. "W-Wh-What! Her soul is still in here? How is that possible! She's no longer an angel? How'd that happen?"

"Human emotions overpower the lifelessness of the Angelic Curse, Mithos. The love present makes life worth living," Kratos explained quietly. "Why are you so restless? Why can't you go to the Spirit Realm with the others who have died?"

Mithos' voice came out of Ran-Chan's mouth again. "I can't face my sister. She will scorn me, and quite possibly hate me, Kratos."

"No," Yuan said, standing to face Ran-Chan. "Martel is just like the Goddess that we created. If you listen to your heart, then you will know that Martel loves you."

"This body is that of a stupid girl who never understood a thing. Her heart has nothing for me!"

"Her physical and emotional heart... are not one and the same." Kratos said. "Because her belief in the future was so strong, she beat you out of it. And when she finally let her guard down, you invaded." He walked over to see into the glowing red eyes angrily. "Mithos, get out of her body!"

With a strong sense of duty, Yuan stared, trying to pierce into Mithos' soul. He didn't say anything, but Mithos got the picture after a little bit.

"I only wanted to... make the place... free of harm and discrimination... I wanted to... make my sister happy... More than anything else... was that so wrong?" Mithos spoke from her body the last time and when he left, her body fell right into Kratos' arms.

Ran-Chan gasped for air a few moments later. She looked down at her chest to see that the entire Derris Emblem had vanished. Was her final curse broken? Was it safe to finally open her heart? "I fought Mithos' soul inside my heart... somewhere... it was exhausting, wherever and whatever it was," she said. "I'm a bit woozy, so I'm going to..." Then she yawned.

"Go right ahead," both Kratos and Yuan said at once as she closed her eyes. They understood, as each of them had a battle that they'd been fighting themselves. Of course, the men didn't fight for the control of their own body, but they could relate.

Kratos stood up, carrying Ran-Chan's sleeping body. "I think we'd best be going, Yuan. It's been a while since I've seen you as true to yourself as you are," he said. Yuan didn't respond for a few minutes. "Yuan?" Kratos asked. "Yuan?"

The blue hair whisped about as Yuan just shrugged, still in tears. "I still don't understand," he said quietly, staring at the carpet below. "After everything," he added, "I'm still the same. Though I feel, I am still the same. Something is missing in me. Old friend, I think I'll have to journey myself and find what I'm missing. Perhaps, even I can obtain the light as you have." Yuan's eyes couldn't stop the tears from flowing, and his face puffed up like any other person who cried. "Yes, I'm at least going to try," he said again. "Do you want to sleep here?"

"You said you live in Triet Base," Kratos reminded him. "I know we can't make that walk. You're welcome to join us at the Inn if you'd like," he added, turning around. When he realized that it might be hard to show some promised affection to his sleeping lady with Yuan there, he stopped, but then kept going. That wasn't as important to him as Yuan's recovery - best friends often act that way. "So?"

Yuan sighed with a nod. "Sure," he replied, turning off the lights with a clap. "I'll stay with you for a bit, but my journey is seperate." His face was a bit more cleared up than it was before when he turned down the fans and locked the other doors besides the one that they were going to go out. "I know I have to find it out about everything myself," he added.

The three left the building quietly after Yuan locked everything down. Another new life had started. And to think, Kratos and Memoria had only been traveling for just three days since they had been reunited!

End

Authoress Notes, yet again: Tis me! It's going to get a bit more confusing later, as if this wasn't all ready. Workin' on an update ASAP. I know Kratos and Memoria will never happen. The more reviews I get against the pairing, the more I'm going to write it. Because it's just a fantasy, a fanfiction... just a dream, shall we say? Yes... I do wish Kratos was real, and I do wish that we could journey. Though he probably wouldn't like me, I am more annoying than my own character. OMFGWTF! Tis true. Anyway, let the Tales of Love linger in your mind, as the story continues. Later.


	2. Tale 4

FanFiction: Reflections on the Pool: Time Lost, Time Gained

Rated: R, dummy w 

By: Ran-Chan

Category/Genre: Game/Tales of Symphonia. Every Genre. Mostly romance and adventure!

Notes: Rated for adult stuff. You know, drinking, cursing, sex, and that whole idea. This is another chapter of the 'Tales of Love' series, starring Kratos and Memoria. Heh heh. Yeah, whatever...

Authoress Rantings: I'm going to say something very rude. If you like me, you might not want to read this. However, if you don't like me, I don't care what the hell you do... You are allowed to flame, as in my home country, we have free speech, so flame away. However, that won't change what I do, because it's not just you, but also me that has the free speech. I'm going to write, and you're going to have your opinion. And hey, we agree to disagree, right? Thank you... sorry, politicians are dominating life these days, so I'm just going to say... I don't give a flip if you don't like the couple. I don't give a flip if you think Kratos is gay, which he isn't. And I really don't give a FUCK (yes I said it) if you believe that Kratos belongs with Raine or any other character which isn't Anna. Anna and Kratos, yes... I know. Let's just say this fic is wishful thinking. Nothing wrong with that. I don't go and flame you for writing your KratosXOC hentai lemon fic, now do I? Noooo, not because it's about those two. If your writing skills weren't so crappy, you wouldn't be in the position to get flamed! I don't go and write Square for making FFX-2 when Yuna should have married Baralai and left it closed after the stupid movie inbetween, did I! NO! Okay, I feel better, that's off my chest, and I'm a much happier person. Thank you.

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia, it's characters, places or stuff in it. YAY. Those that are mine are mine, and that's the truth. Oh, and I'm sorry but Squaresoft owns Celes' Song, so yeah... I'm borrowing the lyrics. I SAID BORROW, YOU TURD. BORROW.

Summary: ToL update! After Yuan joined Kratos and Memoria, hangovers consume the average adventurer.Strange events turn to reflections, and of course, love makes bad things go away. Enjoy. R+R!

Tales of Love

Chapter Four

"Reflections by the Pool: Time Lost, Time Gained"

Morning was usually a time of smiles, happiness, and good morning kisses for Ran-Chan. Well, she had been acustomed to it in just three days, so it might as well have been rutine! However, if this morning had been painted prior to her awakening, it was all ready a murky, gross green color. The color of whatever it was she threw up out the window which landed out to fertilize some palm trees had taken over the entire day. She was, needless to say, incredibly sick.

Kratos slept for about five hours the entire night before. It was enough to be alive, for one that had not slept in centuries, but he was delighted to be able to be woken out of a sleep he was never able to enjoy for a while. Since he leaned up against the wall as she leaned up on him, he was able to comfort her enough and rest himself enough at the same time. A happy compromise!

Just a few hours ago, Yuan was able to fall asleep after he and Kratos talked up a storm. He seemed entirely able to sleep through Ran-Chan's muffling. He slept in the other bed, curled up in a blanket with his blue hair in a very freaky mess.

"Ran-Chan," Kratos whispered softly. "Any better?" He felt her face, finding it to be warmer than usual. "You do feel sick..."

She nodded, rubbing her face on his stomach to feel him closer to her. "Most likely," she grunted. "I drank too much, holding up our journey more..." Her voice was quiet enough that it didn't wake Yuan. She wouldn't have been surprised if he was going to sleep for a few hundred years. She thought about it and realized that she didn't know how mortal long half elves were to live. She did know, however, that humans lived a lot less than those of her kind. "Kratos-sama," she said, "I need to ask you a simple question."

"If it's about affection, it can wait," he said, teasing her. "Ask me..."

"Are you a full blooded human?" she asked.

Kratos was confused. "What is that supposed to mean?" he asked, trying to catch a glance at her face, but she turned away in shame.

"Answer, please..." Ran-Chan begged her love to do as she asked.

Her request was answered with "Yes, dearest, I'm completely human." He still didn't understand until he saw the look on her face that moment. "...but that doesn't mean anything. We will be happy for a long time you and I. You're 23, I'm 28..."

She closed her eyes and tried not to think about it, which only made the thoughts worse. "And you will be gone many years before me," Ran-Chan replied sourly. "My years are measured on the Kharlan Calendar, I'm not actually 23 in human years... I'm probably still a teenager..."

"That's why you are so dramatic," Kratos reasoned aloud. "I always thought it was to amplify your presance more." He laughed then leaned forward a bit to ruffle her hair. "Listen to me. I don't care of your age, I don't mind your mental imbalance, and I don't see how any of that matters. I love you. That's the truth. What else do you need?" He asked her quietly.

Ran-Chan's eyes made in the direction of his. Her look was very serious. Her eyes appeared to be starving for something not given yet, something that she never had from anyone except her little brother. No one could have guessed how close Yoshio and Ran-Chan were besides herself, it was rather apparent that she didn't talk about him much. "Love, company, and peace I have all ready," she answered. "There is something not even the greatest lover can provide for a broken heart. No matter how hard you try to guess it, you'll never be able to see exactly what I'm missing. After all, you aren't the closest to my soul." With that she laughed. She craved his love for years, wanting him to be the closest that she could ever dream of. Sadly, it seemed that only dead people could be the closest. Even the man who participated in the half-elf hunt whom she admired greatly, her father, was closer to her than Kratos. "I don't think you ever can be," she reasoned aloud, "Because... we aren't really family."

The thought didn't bother Kratos. He was amazed to hear her talk about how he wasn't the closest person to her, when that's all the wanted for so many years. He kept thinking he was a let down until the girl sat up and turned to face him a bit more passionately than usual.

"Don't worry, though," she whispered. "That doesn't make you a failure to me. I love you, Kratos-sama. I love you so much. I love you more than anyone I've ever loved in my entire life..." Ran-Chan came closer than she was before, then approached him and kissed him on the nose. "I always will love you. Even if you leave me behind, even if you die and pass on to be with Anna... I don't blame you. It's just that when I get to see you again after we left the mortal life behind... will I be able to see you with her again, after you and I..." She snatched his shoulder and pushed him down. "After you and I-"

Kratos touched the side of her face gently. "No, don't be like that," he said. "No." He pushed back up and flopped her body under his. "I will love you in Heaven," he added, feeling his eyes swell up with tears. "I will! ...why do you doubt me?"

Ran-Chan felt his tears fall on her face, adding to her own. "Don't cry," she begged. "I don't want to see you sad..." His skin was warm and soft, his hair fluffy and it's usual spikey self. She pulled him closer, noticing that he had not shed a tear until then. She had never seen him actually sad before, and she realized what she had to do. "Wait... I know... Kratos-sama, listen... It's time to let it go. All of it. Let it go. Cry with all your might, because you must."

Kratos fell on top of her, feeling thousands of years of sadness flow from his eyes. With his eyes closed, he saw Anna waiting for him. He sobbed for a while until he feel asleep in the position he had been in prior to.

_"My, my," Anna said sweetly. "It's Kratos! It's been a very long time, hasn't it?" She embraced around him, noticing tears had swept across his face. "You... you cried...! That means, you're back to normal. Hmm, well, I thank that young woman from the bottom of my heart. She loves you quite truely. I've never seen anything like it before in my entire existance," she added, letting go. "I had my chance. Fufill that young woman's dreams, Kratos. She needs you as much as you need her."_

_Kratos just laughed quietly. "Anna, you are sweet. Both you and Memoria will let me choose which of you that I want to love, and I can't do that. If I pick you, she'll be lonely, and vice versa..." he said. _

_Anna stood up straight and slapped him lightly on the face. "Be an adult," she said. "Make your own decisions. But just incase you can't... I'll meet someone in Heaven which will make my eyes sparkle. Trust me, there are a lot of wonderful guys in Heaven. None of them are you, but you aren't mine anymore. Listen, Kratos, be free. If not for her happiness... and not for yours, think of it as our last parting gift." She started to turn away, but Kratos reached for her shoulder to turn her around. _

_"Anna," he said, feeling tears well up again. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry... All the things I could have done differently, but I couldn't think of another path... all of those days we couldn't settle down with Lloyd... I failed as a father, a husband, and a lover to you... I dragged you into this until the very end..."_

_"Kratos, I forgive you! Don't cry to me, dear. She's waiting for you, and I... I have to go now. Make her happy. Love her. I know you all ready do." Anna took his hand off of her shoulder and let it fall back to it's owner as she did an about face and vanished. "Goodbye. Kratos."_

_Kratos replied, "Goodbye, Anna. And... thank you..."_

His bright eyes opened to find himself back in the room at the Inn. His heart was much lighter than it was before, and his tears flowed no more for the time being. It seemed that in his dream, he rolled over and fell asleep. In the time of his momentary subcoinciusness, Ran-Chan must have gotten up because she certainly wasn't beside him as she usually would be. Kratos wondered how long he was out of it before he noticed that Yuan was sitting up, awake.

"Yuan?" Kratos asked, scratching the back of his head. "Did you sleep well?"

Yuan nodded. He was still pretty tired, but he shrugged while saying "After so many centuries of not getting sleep, any is pretty good. Oh, Memoria said she'd be gone for a little while, and she's been gone about ten minutes. She also said that it was time for a bit of reflection. I told her not to go out, but she insisted. I thought she'd still be sick." He fell back over and laughed. "That's the reason I stayed awake, she asked me to tell you that message..."

The red head then sat up. "Then go back to sleep, ...lazy bum," he said, joining in the laughter. He put on his shirt and boots, and took the key with him. "I've got the key, so don't go anywhere," he told Yuan as he started out the door.

All Yuan replied was "MMPPH!"

He got the point, so Kratos left the room and with a few stairs to go down and after telling the lady at the desk that they'd be there for another few nights at the most, he slapped down some gald. It wasn't until then that he left the inn and was in the town of Triet to seek out Ran-Chan.

"It'd be stupid to go into every shop in Triet to look for her," he said aloud as he noticed something on the ground which was very familiar. It was the blue ribbon Ran-Chan always had holding her long braid together. It wasn't only important for that, but words were sewn into the silky fabric. "Hmm, 'To my brave sister, who should be more pretty and peaceful instead of powerful and persistant. Happy Sixteenth birthday'," he read the ribbon which was stitched in the Mizuho ancient language, Japanese. "She'd never get rid of this..." he thought aloud.

When Kratos thought about the situation, he didn't think about the fact that he'd never seen Ran-Chan with her hair out of that ridiculously long braid which swung down past her behind. He could pass her and not even know it! Her hair had to be at least down to her knees, if not longer.

Kratos put the ribbon in a pocket and continued looking. She could be sick in a rest room or lost within clothing racks for all he knew. Which, needless to say, was very dangerous. With a trigger happy personality, a sword that never leaves her side, and a very imbalanced emotional state, Kratos even falling asleep with her around was asking for trouble. It's not like he asked for all the trouble in the freaking world, it just happened. And he was glad it did.

When he went by all the shops and saw not a trace of her, he followed a path that led up to the Oasis spring. He remembered seeing it with Lloyd by his side during the Regeneration journey. One thing he found was not in his memories of Triet, but it was very worth seeing.

"Oh my hero," a voice sang with the owner standing with her back to Kratos and peering into the clear lake, "So far away now, will I ever see your smile? Love goes away, like night into day. It's just a fading dream..." Her eyes didn't water and her words did not waver. "I'm the darkness, you're the stars. Our love is brigher than the sun. For eternity, for me there can be only you, my chosen one. Must I forget you? Will autumn take place of spring? Oh... what shall I do, I'm lost without you... speak to me once more!"

"Ran-Chan," Kratos said, watching her turn around. "Don't sing the last verse of the song. I know how it goes."

Ran-Chan blushed. "You waited until that part, didn't you?" she asked loudly, running into his arms. "That's just like you. Always being so straight laced and by the rules."

Kratos laughed, holding her tightly, noticing that her hair was all completely down. It wasn't the looks that was able to tell him that it was Ran-Chan. He could not mistake that voice for anyone else. "Oh, yes," he said, "I never once break any rule... unless," he pulled down her collar and looked down at her chest, "I was to show you true affection right here."

"...you wouldn't!" she said. "Hell, I wouldn't, and I'm rather wild."

"You're saying that I don't have a little fun?" Kratos asked, kissing her cheek. "We can't back at the inn, Yuan is sleeping there." He started to kiss her neck, but she just glared until she was laughing too hard to be angry for it. "So let's be our natural selves, I mean... the dogs are allowed to be affectionate outside."

Ran-Chan's face almost ignited, she was blushing so brightly. "Kratos-sama, I've never heard you talk like that before... What did you do with my Kratos-sama, you imposter?"

"I'm no imposter," Kratos said, laughing. "I found this," he added quietly, taking her blue ribbon from his pocket. He held it out as he asked "It's from your brother isn't it?"

When she saw the ribbon, her face saw a bit of peaceful relevance she hadn't found in quite a while. She thanked him under her breath, then asked "You can read Japanese?" Ran-Chan took the ribbon from him and tied it back on her shoulder. "That's an accomplishment. In the days I couldn't find you, I sought the knowledge of my father's people, and aspired to be a part of the Igaguri clan, even though they'd never let this half-elf join the ranks. I learned his sword style, the Kokoro-Ken Ryu, and studied the art of the master of the katana. My kimono is a symbol of the culture. I realize that I wasn't taking time to be myself anymore, Kratos-sama. I feel asleep shortly after you cried yourself into your dream and you rolled over..."

"Ah, Memoria... I can read Japanese, Elven, Dwarfish, the Angelic Language, and some other things, too," he replied. "Your silver hair is beautiful down."

"It makes for a difficult battle. When my father was alive, the true members of the Igaguri clan never cut their hair. I've also taken up that tradition, to get away from the rules I was raised with... the rules of the Elves of Hiemdall," Ran-Chan explained herself well. She knew everything there was to know about the ninja clan far to the east and how she would fit into it, should she ever become a member of the tribe.

Kratos kissed her cheek again. "So, you say that you weren't yourself? I had never seen your hair not in a braid, even when I first met you in Hiemdall. Even though you should try and be more of yourself, whoever that might be. You can still be a master of your sword, but why don't you..." He started to tug at her sleeveless kimono. "...go with something else for a few thousand years?"

"What does my clothing have to do with my-"

"...your clothing is your mind set, you know. It's not only expression, but it's also... oh, how do I put it..." Kratos was confused. He was a man, and even though he knew that clothing was important, he didn't know how to say things like this. He also thought that Ran-Chan might need a female friend later on to help with these kind of things. "Say, let's go buy you a new outfit."

Ran-Chan stepped away from her love and looked at him strangely. "You have changed," she repeated, "So much that I'm not sure you're the same man I fell in love with..."

"I am," he reassured her. "But I'm rather serious. Since we both need to be in something new, we'll both go."

With that, she coughed for a few moments, than started to laugh. "Kratos-sama!" she said through her insane laughter, "Men usually hate shopping. Are you feeling well? Even though I was in Cruxis for a long time, I still knew what men and women were like. Pronyma and the other girl angels often laughed when I didn't understand, so I had to learn. She never influenced me with her nasty taste, though!"

He remembered the suit that Pronyma always wore and thanked whatever dieties that lived in the world that Ran-Chan never picked up any of those vile fashion tips. "I'm quite glad," he answered, taking her hand. "Shall we?"

The two walked together, noticing that there wasn't many clothing shops in Triet to be found. Infact, except for weaponry, battle supplies, armor, food, and the inn, plus that little bitty hole in the tent that had a few dresses up... there weren't any clothing shops.

"Kratos-sama, I'm thinking it's gonna have to be that one," she said with a smile. "They have fashions for warm weather, so I'll end up buying a coat later on." Her face seemed to be bright, and yet, a little sad. She was grateful that Kratos was going to do this with her, otherwise it would have felt very stupid. "But still."

So they shyly entered the dress shop, noticing a very pretty blonde lady sitting at a table surrounded by dresses and shirts, all so very pretty and new. Neither of them would speak first, as this was the first time they ever had gone to a clothing store before. Ever.

The blonde lady stood up after seeing them. "Hi there! I've never seen you two before," she said. "I'm the only clothing dealer in Triet. It's very nice to meet you, call me Mandi." She hugged them both to greet them, which was entirely too odd for either of them to be hugged by someone other than their love, but they said nothing to offend that hyper, beautiful clothing saleswoman. "Soo I take it that you're both looking for wedding clothing!"

Ran-Chan heaved a sigh. "No, no, no... we're just looking for something very... casual. We're just adventurers, but we'd like to... look like we're not from the... backwoods, you see?" she tried to smile at Mandi, but it came out as a rather embarrassed look.

"Oh, well, that's very cool, too." Mandi replied, "Usually I like to do the fancy stuff though!" She turned around and went back to her desk, opening drawers. "The casual stuff doesn't sell around in these parts, so I usually stuff them in drawers. Sorry!"

Kratos was blushing the entire time. "That's... that's fine..." he said, trying not to be a perv and look at the other lady. "I'm the kind who likes just... simple things. A breathable shirt, nice fitting but not too loose pants... and some nice combat boots."

"With a cape," Ran-Chan filled in. "He's got a cape fetish."

"No, I don't," he snapped. "Well you like hearts, bows, and fluffy things."

"...I'm a girl," she answered back, "and girls are allowed to like hearts, bows, and fluffy things! And we all know you love to wear heart printed boxers... because they're cute on your ass."

Mandi put all of the stuff she dug out of the drawers and placed it a box on the table before the quarreling lovers. "It's nice to hear when you talk to each other, because then I can avoid getting out stuff you'll never wear. Ha ha," she said. She was acting like she didn't hear a thing, because the boxers comment didn't make her laugh as it did the rest of the stores around them. "Well, dig in!"

Ran-Chan reached in, and without looking, pulled out a black thong. "...umm, Mandi... what's this?" she asked, throwing it back at the shopkeeper. "Never mind, don't tell me... I'm not wearing THAT!"

"Hmm," Kratos grunted, sticking his hand in the box. "This reminds me of the crane game..." he added, pulling out a pair of men's kakhi jeans. "These might be my style," he said.

"This isn't the crane game, you can look before you pull it out of the box, you know," Mandi said, irritated. "Have you never been clothes shopping before?" It was amazing that she didn't figure that out until then that her visitors were first timers at the experience.

Kratos slapped his forehead. "It took you THIS LONG to figure it out? How much education do you need to sell clothing anyway? Obviously not enough..." he said, digging through the box, looking this time. "Umm... Ran-Chan?"

Ran-Chan was distracted for the moment by a dress that had been hanging up on the wall the entire time they were bickering about the box. The dress was a blue sleeveless top that came up with a formal collar with a short length with a beautiful dragon embroidered in it. A white belt tied off the center to add accent. It came with a beautiful blue and white celestial coat. The entire ensamble was breathtaking. She loved it.

"Wow, that's pretty nice," Kratos said after examining it. When he reached in the box to find a blue tanktop with a nice heart embriodered in it, he threw it on her face to distract her from seeing. "But I think that more suits you," he added.

After taking it off of her face, Ran-Chan looked at it. He was right! "Give me a blue skirt or something," she said, "One to match this pretty color. Then I'll need a silver sash." When she turned around to see that pretty star coat would match the outfit she had going, she pointed at it. "And I would really like that coat by itself."

"You'd think that this little lady is set once she makes up her mind," Mandi said to Kratos as he was looking for a top for himself, but none of them were fitting to his tastes. "You know, you look like a plain top would do you good. Do you like lilac?" She held out a button short sleeved shirt with a nice collar. "It would look sexy on you."

"...do you have that in white or dark purple?" Ran-Chan asked. "Then it would be perfect."

Kratos looked at Ran-Chan for a moment, whom was obsessing about her newcoming coat. "She's right. White would be best," he said with a smile...

The two were lucky as they walked away with two new outfits a piece for the price of one. One for themselves, and the other for their love's taste in a suitcase that Mandi just insisted that they take. They were making their way back to the inn when Ran-Chan started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Kratos asked.

"You went clothes shopping. You enjoyed yourself. And... Yuan's going to be surprised tomarrow morning!" Ran-Chan answered, hugging around his neck as they walked. "You're such a funny guy, Kratos-sama..."

"Listen, Ran-Chan... need you still call me 'Kratos-sama'? We're not in Cruxis anymore. Hell, we aren't ranked anymore, either. You've always called me by a title from the day I met you," he said. "And you aren't so uptight about giving titles to anyone else. Just me..."

"Kratos-sama," Ran-Chan said, "I respect you way too much. I love you way too much. And it's also a Mizuho type tradition to give people titles. I called Forcystus from the Desians for years 'Forcystus-san' because that's the default title and pretty much I couldn't call him 'sama'. That would be pretty weird."

Kratos stopped her and pulled her face to where he could look into her eyes. "Would you call me by just my name? Please?"

Ran-Chan tried to answer his request, but she was afraid to. Did this mean he wasn't so close to her anymore, or did it mean that he was closer? The thought scared her and she instantly ran back into the inn. Kratos didn't run to catch up to her, after all, that would have seemed a little forceful. Instead of being so forceful, he took his time.

"I guess some things never change," Kratos said quietly when he walked into the inn's doors.

End

Authoress Notes: Ah... I liked writing that chapter. It's okay to deviate from the real storyline and go off on a tangent a bit, plus Yuan's reactions just might stir up a little fun before it starts to get serious again. I'm sorry about updating. It takes me a bit... ha ha ha! Well, I'd better leave you! Tootles!


	3. Tale 5

Fanfiction: The Cleansing Rain

By: Ran-Chan

Rating: R, I suppose

Genre: Ev'r'thin' unda da sun, ya?

Title(s) used: Tales of Symphonia

Summary: ToL update! With a fresh mindset, Kratos and Ran-Chan begin their quest again to Luin. With Yuan's help, the trip is a lot easier... but what's this about intimacy! Trouble in paradise for the old Seraphim's journey becomes apparent with the samurai girl's sad eyes. What really is in Luin...?

RATED FOR BAD LANGUAGE, SEXUAL SITUATIONS THAT MIGHT TURN GRAPHIC, AND LOTSA BLOODSHED. BECAUSE I'M AN ADULT AND CAN WRITE WHATEVER THE HELL MAKES ME HAPPY LONG AS I DON'T CARRY IT OUT, BITCHES. THANK YOU.

The Chapterly Rantings of an Authoress: This section has been permanently added to this series, just because I get out a lot of steam by writing this. My heart, like many other a heart in the world, is quite the lonely one, and to help myself become a much better person, I end up writing romance/adventure stories like this. Sure, clinging to the hottest guy in video games probably shows I'm a lunatic, but hey! What a better way to protect yourself from being hurt by another heart when you give it to a guy who doesn't exist! insane laughing No matter how lonely I might be, there's nothing I can't conquer, as strong as I might be. That's right. I'm strong... well, not really. Infact, not at all. I'm a loser, but I still write a good fanfiction. My stories get out what I need to get out of my system before it ends up killing me. I'm very expressive and imaginative. Why do you think I write about sex? Because I'm fucking horny, that's why. Think of my stories as like my diary. Because I've written all about fucking Kratos in my diary, and when my sister asks me what I'm on, I tell her "Kratos' sexy body, what else?" Yes, I take obsession to a new height. That doesn't bother me at all. If it bothers you, well, then... go the fuck away.

Tales of Love

Installment Five

"The Cleansing Rain"

The next beautiful morning in Triet brought sunshine, a bright sky, swarming humidity, and... lots of rain. Whoever thought that it rained in Triet, the Desert Oasis? The people who lived in Triet just shrugged and ignored it, going about their day with no problem. It was amazing to see just how much rain fell in the desert. That's exactly what Ran-Chan thought as she looked out the window watching the raindrops fall, waiting for Kratos and Yuan to wake up. Ran-Chan had never been in a natural real storm before, it was pretty cool to see what nature could do on it's own, without any help from anyone else.

"Mithos used the lightning of Justice to scare the people," Ran-Chan thought aloud, pressing her hand up against the cold window. "But now, nature uses lightning to look awesome." She smiled, bright about the falling water, even though the average Triet resident really didn't mind at all. Perhaps the heavy rainfall every rare once-in-a-while was how the palm tress grew the way they did?

Suddenly a huge boom of thunder sounded against the world, as it someone was pounding on the biggest drum in the world. It scared Ran-Chan and she dashed back over to the bed that Kratos was sleeping in. She climbed back in the bed, shaking with fear. She hoped that it wasn't the roar of the lightning of justice, sliding over to Kratos' warm side.

As if being awakened by a shock or a jolt, Kratos sprung up quickly. "What!" he asked, wiping off his face with his hand. "Oh, it's just you... what's with that look on your face? Have you seen a ghost?"

"...n-no... it's the... boom..." she said, ducking under the covers. "Like the Lightning of Justice that Mithos used on the people when he was really mad." Ran-Chan was not just playing with him, she was very scared of the sound.

He heard rain falling on the roof. It was a soft melodic sound which almost made him fall right back to sleep. "Oh, that's right..." Kratos said, pulling a pillow away from Ran-Chan's face. "Let me tell you... For about three days yearly, Triet has a huge thunderstorm! It's actually Triet's Harvest Festival and Celebration of Life..."

This made Yuan finally sit up and laugh heartilly. "This is my hometown, I know all about the Celebration of Life. I can tell you all about it if you'd like to know," he said, knowing exactly how Ran-Chan was going to react instantly. So he decided to tell the tale to fill in some anticipating silence. "Myth says that Efreet, the summon spirit of Fire, fell in love with the beautiful Celcius, the summon spirit of Ice. However, because of the direct opposite element that they were born with, Efreet's presence would kill Celcius, and he had to remain apart from her eternally."

Ran-Chan sat up and looked at him curiously. "Oh no! That's so sad for the fire god..."

"So Origin, the leader of the summon spirits, called them all to a meeting. Efreet was hurt very much by this seperation. He was so depressed that all of the people in the entire world were dying of famine, drought, and other things," Yuan added. "Luna of the Moon and Aska of the Sun gave an idea to Origin. Celcius could only stand Efreet's presence for three days, so he could have her three days and the world wouldn't be in such a bad shape. To help ease Celcius' pain, Sylph would blow the winds to keep it cool. Gnome said he'd do what he could to cool down the earth as much as he could."

"What a relief!" Ran-Chan chimed. "I was hoping for the best for him!"

"Continuing," Yuan said again, "Origin decided he had to let it happen. He couldn't allow Efreet to kill the entire world. He gave the idea to Maxwell after the meeting, and Maxwell told him to give it a go. Efreet was given three days inside Celcius' cave. Celcius was glad to embrace the old friend, even though it pained her to touch him at all. The fire of Efreet made Celcius melt slowly over those three days. The three Sylphs led the water they made all over the world, and over by the dry Island of Thoda, a new summon spirit was born in the collection of clear water they made. Undine was born."

By the time Yuan had completed that part of the story, he had changed clothes, donned his usual cape, and sat back down to see just how much Ran-Chan liked the story.

She was extatic. "Oh my goodness! Undine is Efreet's and Celcius' daughter? That's why the whole thing is called the Celebration of Life, right?" She stood up and jumped up on the matress once, then fell back on her tush. "That's an amazing story!"

"Well, no," Yuan said quietly. "I just made that story up at this very second. Seriously, I don't remember why they call it the Celebration of Life, and to be honest, I don't really care. The whole thing is for little kids and old people looking for an excuse to take a day off." He then smiled a little, bowed, and took his leave. "If you need me, I'll be at the base. I have something for you, though, Kratos, so don't go too far without me." When he left he shut the door completely.

"He made the whole thing up?" Ran-Chan asked. "That sounded so good though. He could be a really nice storyteller." She then dive tackled him, trying to pull off his pants. "We're alone now, so let's go!" she squealed as Kratos held his pants up with one hand and pinned her down with the other.

Kratos was pretty strong to be just human again. "Hey... we've been alone a whole two seconds. Give me a moment, would you?" he asked, snatching the suitcase they had gotten from the clothes shop in town with the hand he held his pants up with. "I didn't even think about it."

She then laughed, snatching his pants and holding them to herself with such dignity. "You wouldn't have until we got to Yuan's," she replied, rolling her eyes. "I swear, Kratos-sa... I mean, Kratos... that, umm... you have to take the time you're given... Besides your pants are SEXY."

"...I'm not even going there," Kratos said with a small grunt in his tone. "Thanks for helping me get them off, I needed to put another pair on so we can move on with our journey. You had to get drunk, get sick, and delay us an entire day?" He looked back at her, noticing her chest again bore the symbol he'd been trying to get out of his head for centuries. "...wait, why do you once again bear the Derris Emblem? It... was cancelled, wasn't it, ...Memoria?"

_"Eternally bear the sadness of others, that's what you do. Others will hate you, dispise you, and even try to kill you. You want to see Kratos so badly, though, you're willing to find a way to survive. And you will do it without thought, without bearing. That is Memoria Skysong's true purpose in this world..."_

_"I will take up the study of the Kokoro-Ken Ryu, my father's swordsmanship style... I will fight without question... this is what I will do."_

_"Perfect. Now to find the yin to your yan!"_

"Memoria! Memoria Skysong!" Kratos shouted, trying to get his lady love's response. "What's wrong? Memoria, wake up!"

She blinked and shook her head. "I zoned out again," she muttered. "I heard the voice of Mithos, reminding me about what my assignment was. To 'eternally bear the sadness of others'... As long as I have the Emblem, I... I am what keeps the Angelic Curse alive. I am the Blood Seal itself. There's nothing I can do to change it."

"We'll go to Origin's Seal. We'll confront him, and... together, we'll get it off of you," Kratos said quickly. "Don't you say you aren't going back to Hiemdall, because..."

"I'll go back to Heimdall," Ran-Chan answered. "I will give Origin my life. I won't live so selfishly anymore, and you won't have to worry about me... I just ask that you be there with me in my final stages of life."

Kratos felt his human temper rage, and he lifted his hand, slapping it across her pale face. "You aren't going to give up your life! Did you wait forever to be with me so I could watch you give your life to save the rest of the stupid world, huh! No, it's not going to happen!"

Ran-Chan shook her head, crying. "Why won't you accept it as fate?"

"...why do you accept it as fate?" Kratos asked, also crying. "My son taught me the wonderful lesson that I don't have to accept what looks to be reality as reality." He embraced around her. "I don't want to lose someone else... not to Mithos!" His whole heart hurt, no, ached unbelievably. He felt every beat, pulsing the pain through his body. It was almost too much for him to bear.

Ran-Chan shrugged, also embracing him. "Let me prove my love to you," she pleaded. "You won't let me make love to you, even though you've proved that you have perverted tendancies in that man-brain of yours. Every time I try to do something for you, you shoot it down... what can I do, Kratos-sama! What can I do to prove to the rest of the world, no... the universe that I love you this much!"

He ruffled her hair and whispered, "...but you don't need to prove your love to me. I know the love that you bear for me is worth your life to you..." He then pulled her chin to make her look into his eyes. "However, the love that you hold in your heart isn't worth your life. Not when you're so young, so pretty, and so smart," he added. Kratos kissed her slowly, letting his anger go. "Besides... if you were gone, who would I... do THIS to?" He stepped back away from her, turned her body around and pushed her toward the bed. "Let me explain, Memoria!" he said playfully. "If I give it to you every time you ask, it's just not right... but if I do this..." He reached around her waist, untying the sash holding her dress onto her body then pulling it off. "Then you'll-"

Ran-Chan flipped her body over and snatched his waist with her legs. "Ha ha ha. You know, you're a very unusual kind of person, Kratos-sama. I finally get you figured out, then you just go and astonish me with everything I don't expect," she said, unbuttoning his brand new kahki pants.

Kratos laughed as he gently fell on top of her body. "It's very easy to be so unpredictable," he said, making the entrance into the deep caverns of the female crevices. "And you know how unpredictable I can be."

"Oh yes, I do," she replied, a lot more tense than she was before. "What, are you trying to tickle me now?" Ran-Chan laughed, hitting him lightly upside his head.

His face showed a bit more of a serious demenor as he shook his head, going in a bit harder. "No. I take this love-making experience very seriously, it's just that... we've been way too serious lately. Thought I could be, you know... funny. Ever wanted to laugh with me instead of love with me all the time?"

"...umm..." she said, letting her mind float away with the motions the two bodies made together. "You never seem to want to laugh..." she muttered. "I'm being... umm, serious."

_Again_, Kratos thought. _Again with the seriousness. Guess I can't be the comedy relief, huh? _His mind wandered, and as it did, his body just kept fufilling the usual duty of the male during intercourse. _I've always had a hard time laughing... my family taught me how to ignore humor... it's so stupid to be thinking about this now..._

As if the penis was actually a radar sending out signals of distress, Ran-Chan could tell that something was on his mind because of what she just said. "Listen, your sense of humor isn't the question..." she said, quietly wishing he'd stop with the sex thing so they could talk about it without being distracted. "...but I can see that what I said made you think about everything in life... would you stop?"

"Not until you moan for me like you mean it," Kratos replied, starting to move faster and faster. He was really shoving it in there, and it was getting caught on all the things it shouldn't. Usually he was such a patient, quiet, and steady kind of sex artist, but he couldn't even think straight.

"Please, stop, you're hurting me," she said, grasping onto his shoulders. "Please... stop...!"

It wasn't until she screamed for him to get off that he actually got the picture. He shook his head and rubbed the bridge of his nose, saying, "I'm sorry about that... I was distracted..."

"About what I said," Ran-Chan answered without hesitation. "I know." She quietly pulled him down on top of her, noticing her emblem once again. "I don't want to make you think that you're inadequate because of one or two shortcomings."

"I thought about my family..." He said. "By the way, can I get and stay dressed now?"

"...sure, I'll do the same," she replied to that, climbing out from under him quickly, retrieving the suitcase. "If you're going to be like that, then making love's not going to be so much fun anyway..." Of course, Ran-Chan wasn't the type to actually be angry about mishaps like that, even though she was kind of disappointed. Her hands moved quickly, pulling on the new outfits they had bought the day before. "Kratos-sama, you're still my favorite person in the world," she said with a smile, pulling on the tanktop and skirt combo. She put her kimono, folded, into the suitcase where her outfit lay before. "And even moreso in a khaki pants and white shirt outfit..."

Kratos laughed, still holding up the pants. "Are you sure that it's really me?" he asked, lifting a leg to slip into the left half. "I was always in dark colors before." He was yet again trying to be funny, but his childhood jumped before him and he kept his mouth shut.

All though Ran-Chan heard it and smiled, it wasn't very funny. She just nodded to go along with it, trying to make her love happy. He didn't even see it, but perhaps the small effect could make the atmosphere better. "Before I go back to Iselia, I'd like to make a stop by Mizuho," she said, tying off her signature boots. "If you don't mind."

The white shirt fit quite well, but once they both realized that it was raining rather hard outside, Ran-Chan decided that the entire idea might not fit at all.

"What?" Kratos asked her, taking a glance at the window. "Who cares if it's raining? I'm a man, there's nothing I have to hide," he said with a slight laugh, turning to see that she was just giving him a look of disgrace. "Well there are things I must keep hidden, but there aren't any under what this shirt covers," he said as she just rolled her eyes the other way.

He did have a very good point, but she was the kind not to let those things slide by her. Well, usually. Okay, so she never had the chance to argue with someone over whether they were going outside in pouring rain in a white shirt. It was still something that she thought was wrong. "Listen," she said quietly, "I really don't think that's a wise idea. What if you catch a cold?"

Kratos looked up and nodded. "You're right," he said, "since we're mortals now we have to think about that kind of thing. Which means... you're going sleevless?" He pointed at her tanktop and noticed how thin the layers were, but when she grabbed her giant celestial printed coat, he couldn't argue with her at all. "You're not going to do this to me, are you?" he asked.

Ran-Chan let out a laugh. "...hmm. Well, if you bought an overshirt, you wouldn't have this problem, now would you?" she asked, walking behind him. "Those jeans make your ass look sexy, dearest. Why don't you wear the top that you wore before without the cape and those jeans? That would be nice."

"Since when did you lead in fashions?" he asked, doing as she told him to. "I can't win with any women. You're all so... demanding..." With the outfit was completed, Kratos ended up being as satisfied with it as she was, even though he wasn't obsessing over it. "Anyway, now that we're dressed, we can check out of this inn and make our way..."

"To the Triet base, right?" Ran-Chan asked. "Yuan said he had a gift for you. Perhaps we can find something to mount so we don't have to walk so much," she suggested, picking up the suitcase, wishing she could wear it on her back. She walked over to a small table and put down a few hundred gald for a tip for the housekeepers. "Yep, let's go."

Picking up what was his, Kratos followed. "Why not? Perhaps we can snatch a reiard from Yuan and fly to Mizuho," he suggested, feeling the air get colder as they left the room. "Chilly in here, isn't it?"

A housekeeper walked behind them, rolling up her sleeves. "Time to get to work," she said, darting into the room they just left.

They decended the stairs of the Triet Inn, making their way to the desk so they could check out. The process was smooth and quick, leaving the two of them to just walk outside into the pouring rain.

Before going outside, though, Ran-Chan stopped to peer out a window. She could see people running through the now muddy streets, celebrating the huge flood as if it was the most celebrated thing to ever happen. "It really is a celebration of life, isn't it?" she asked, pointing out the window. "It's more like a ceremony of sillyness to me..." she said with a sigh.

Kratos looked, too, feeling as if those outside were being rather stupid. He would have loved to run through the rain when a child, but his parents never allowed him to do anything fun. When he thought about this part of his personality, he decided he should go and run through the rain himself. Perhaps he could find a missing part of himself somewhere in the falling drops? "Ran-Chan," he said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "There's something I have to do."

"...oh, okay, I'll wait for you right here," she said, expecting him to have to make a last minute bathroom trip or something about what he forgot previously.

"Umm... sure," he said, going outside as fast as he could. With the rain wasn't as cold as he thought it would be, he could run out there for a while and not feel cold at all. His hair flew back as he ran, letting the wind and the water soak it until it was just one hell of a mess, letting his worries float away with the water washing over him.

From inside the inn, Ran-Chan just gawked. _So, Yoshio, this is the man you would have been pleased to call your brother, eh?_ she thought, unable to stop laughing. _I wonder why I'm not out there with him at this moment._ She said in thought to her younger brother's spirit. However, she didn't go outside. She just waited as she said she would before.

_Mother, _he thought as he ran back towards the fortune teller's tent, _your restrictive days ended so long ago... why did I not let myself go years ago?_ He darted back to the inn, but couldn't stop jumping and celebrating with the rest of the Triet residents, as if he knew what the whole thing was about. When he reached the door of the inn, Kratos managed to bring himself inside.

"Look who's all wet," Ran-Chan said, just staring at the mess his hair was in. "Wha-"

Kratos couldn't stop laughing, even though he had the feeling like his lady love was going to scold him. "I actually enjoyed myself, doing something just a tad bit stupid," he said, almost leading Ran-Chan outside. "I know my mother would have been pissed that I went and did something like this, but..."

"My brother used to do a lot of running in the rain before he was moved to Mizuho," Ran-Chan said with a smile, "Mother didn't care, but I used to scold him like the world was going to end for it." Her heart was more overjoyed than anything talking about it, and she felt bad for the fact that she was about to scold him for the same thing. "If you get sick, I'm going to have to haul your sexy ass all the way back to Iselia, and there goes our entire adventure before I go back to work," she stated, kissing his wet lips softly. "And we have things we must do, don't we?"

He nodded, picking up the suitcase that Ran-Chan was carrying before. "It's about time that we go," he said, "before I go back out there and start really making a mess out of myself." His voice was very quiet, even though the whole entire mass of people inside the inn had been staring at them for a while now. "To Yuan's?"

"Let's get going," Ran-Chan said, walking out the door. She felt the rain wasn't as cold as she expected, even though it was much more wet than she wanted it to be. Rain was just rain, and she was just glad that it wasn't the Lightning of Judgement she feared from years past. "Kratos-sama, does it rain through the entire desert when it does this?"

"Most," he replied with a shrug. "I don't know what to tell you about this crazy rain, other than it washes away bad feelings, if you let it." Kratos looked up into the cloudy sky, letting the whole flood engulf him for a few moments. "That may be why it's a celebration," he added as a smile crept across his face.

Ran-Chan didn't think about the emotional aspect of rain as it fell on and around her. "Like a nice bath," she said. "It's an ultra cleaning shower... if you let it be..." she repeated quietly, finally looking to the sky. "Kratos-sama..."

Kratos laughed. "You don't have to ask..." he trailed off. When he looked at her again, Ran-Chan was staring up into the clouds. "...dearest."

Her face had no real expression. Standing in the muddy streets, she rose her hands to show just how much she wanted to send her feelings up to heaven. "I send my heart up to you..." she whispered, "...so I may be free." Ran-Chan concentrated on it for a while, focusing it all into a message to send up in a magical messenger. "Allow this to be a rebirth..." she asked, sending the magical dragon messenger up into the sky. With that she smiled, and jumped up in a burst of emotion. "Perhaps Mithos will let his grudges go now..." she added in a whisper, finally turning to Kratos. "Now we can go to see Yuan."

"Fair enough."

The staggering walk all the way to see Yuan was long and hard. Luckily, they encountered no monsters because of the rain, so it was just that much lighter of an adventure. The couple talked the entire way there about nonsensical things, as if an entire load was taken off of their shoulders. Passing romantic banter back and forth had never been so easy for either of them before. Not only that, but the conversations were much lighter...

"It has been ages since I've been back here," Kratos said, suddenly serious again. "I've not been able to get this place out of my mind, honestly." When he reached the door, he pounded on it a few times. After not getting an answer, he just opened the door on his own. "Yuan! Are you even in here!" he shouted inside, turning to see Ran-Chan not following him. "...come on, you can come with me. Always."

Ran-Chan nodded and repeated, "Always," as she walked into the door after him. "I sure hope he's here, otherwise we have to circle around and head the other way to Palamacosta, which will be a bitch to walk," she said, hoping just a little bit of despiration would make luck change back around.

"I thought I heard someone's edgy tone," Yuan said as he came in the door they just entered. "Sorry, but I went back to Triet to get something right quick." He laughed a bit, throwing a tomato at Ran-Chan. "Like tomatoes?"

She nodded, catching it. "Of course, I love veggies," she said, throwing it back at him. "Tell me, what's the whole thing about tomatoes about, anyway?" Ran-Chan turned to look at Kratos and saw his very strange expression about the mysterious vegitable. "Umm, Kratos-sama?"

"I... I just don't... like tomatoes," Kratos grunted as Yuan laughed from the other side of the room. "Never have..." he said quietly, just trying to ignore his old friend's laughter. "Never will..."

The aura of the place had a very strange vibe to it, making Ran-Chan just about as strange as they come with facial expressions. "I have always liked vegitables, tomatoes almost as much as any of the others, you know," she said. "But I won't force you to eat a tomato or anything else you don't like." She turned to Yuan, finally realizing what the tomato was for. "You're being mean," she said to him. "Bringing the one thing he doesn't like out just for effect! Was that the gift you planned on giving us!"

Yuan just smiled and took a bite of the tomato. "For heaven's sake, no!" he said, waving his arm for them to follow him. "That was just a small prank, Memoria. Don't worry about it... for now, just follow me!" His signature blue hair was pretty easy to follow, even as it got dark in the old base. Pieces of machinery littered the place, revealing the age all too well. "I usually carry these around with me, but today I didn't think I'd need 'em!" Yuan laughed, opening a door.

Ran-Chan walked in the room first, her face lighting up as she saw the contents. "Oh! Reiards!" she said happily, "They'll make transportation much easier." She glanced up at Kratos to see his face a bit amazed. "Is something wrong, Kratos-sama?" she asked, pulling his hand closer to her.

"No, I'm just surprised that they work," Kratos said as he notice Yuan laugh. "What? You mean to tell me that they don't!" His face clenched up as he started to turn around. "We don't have time for your jokes, Yuan!"

With a slight tug, Ran-Chan pulled on Kratos' arm to catch his attention. "If they're broke, it should only take a few hours to fix," she said with a little begging under her breath. "Since we've got so many places to travel to, and so many things we have to get done with such a limited time, giving up a few hours should make the rest of our journey go much smoothly," she explained, walking over to a huge toolbox, dragging him with her. "Yuan, you should help," she added sharply.

"I can't fight you, can I?" Yuan asked, walking over. "Hey, both of you look really hungry. I'll fix the reiards, but only if you promise you'll go to Hiemdall before you go to Luin, ...Kratos!" His glare was stronger this time, but Kratos nodded instead of objecting.

In his own cloud of thoughts, Kratos knew he had to take Ran-Chan to face Origin to discover her fate before anything else could be done on this journey. In fact, he didn't even think he was going to have to go to Luin after all, Anna visited him to set him free. "Yes, that is my main concern as well," he said as he claimed Ran-Chan's waist in his hands. "In fact, Yuan... if you wanted, you could accompany us."

"No," Yuan said, pointing at the door. "Go up the flight of stairs to the right. You'll find the base's kitchen. I'll fix these things, just get out of my hair. I've got thinking to do anyway," he snapped, snatching a screwdriver. "Just go eat," he added peacefully.

The couple agreed, turning to leave the old hangar quietly as not to bother Yuan further.

"You think he was annoyed at us?" Ran-Chan asked Kratos as she turned around to look at his face. "He's starting to act more mortal every moment... and so are you..." she added, running her finger down the side of his face ever-so-softly. "Ha, ha..."

Kratos just picked her up off the floor by her waist. "It's nice to hear another person's laughter... it is very soothing," he said, planting a kiss on her neck. "Someone like you, who is always trying to be happy... is not annoying..." His eyes shined vibrantly as he put her down so they could walk together. "Huh?"

Ran-Chan's heartbeat faster as she held her hands right above her heart. "You bring me happiness," she said as she started up the stairs. "You make me the happiest person that ever could be," she added, slowly feeling tears develop in her eyes. "That's why I've always wanted you close to me!" She stopped and walked off the stairs, plunging into his arms.

"Hey," Kratos said, surrounding her with his arms. "Hey... now... what's with this?"

"I'm so afraid," she cried, "...I finally have you with me... I know it's selfish, but the one thing I have ever wanted in my entire life is to feel love... Kratos-sama, I love you!" Her whole body shook with each sob as she clung to him despirately. "I don't want to lose you!"

Kratos nodded as he replied, "The feeling is mutual." His hair fluffed back up as he gave her the support she needed for just a little while. "So if Origin wants to do anything that doesn't fit that adjenda, then I will do something about it. I promise..."

_So, you knew this from the beginning, didn't you?_ Kratos thought, turning her around so she'd go up the stairs. _How if you fell in love with me, that there would be this agony in the end. Still... you knew. You knew that you'd be falling into a trap... You are brave. The bravest woman I've ever encountered in my entire life... all 4,049 years..._

"I know you're hungry," Kratos said happily. "Let's just go and eat, all right?"

chapter end

Notes: This one took me plenty of time to finally complete. The transition from the inn to the base took so long to finally get done, but I just love the rain scene. It brings about a lot of spiritual cleanliness, which I really do enjoy, it's just that... Triet took a lot out of me. The whole entire place just makes me go freaking numb when I think about the events that take place. Yes, I cried at a few events, and I laughed at others. This piece means a lot to me. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. Cha.


	4. Tale 6

Fanfiction: Yuan's Secret: The Truth of Triet

Rating: R, must you ask every time!

Genre: Romance/Adventure

Disclaimer: Don't shoot me. I don't own the world of Tales of Symphonia, nor the characters or events that happen in the game, no matter how much I like or write about them. I don't own the reiards, either. I do own my characters which you have encountered in reading this... YARRRRR! Oh and the "Dance of the Sword" is rip-off from Zelda and a YuGiOh! card.

Summary: ToL update! The Reiards are being fixed, and soon Kratos and Ran-Chan will see Origin about the fate of the seal. Sadly, Yuan keeps thinking of the negative effects, which makes Kratos uneasy. Can he fufill his promise this time? R+R.

Chapterly Rantings! Hiya folks. Last time I was pretty much in a tizzy, but now I'm pretty much doing okay. I am very happy about how my fanfiction is coming along, and I really enjoy writing it! Though some believe I'm not doing that great in bringing about Kratos' personality, but I think I'm doing a damn good job. There's a lot of Anna reflections and he remembers her A LOT. I respect Anna, for even though she knew what was going on, she stayed with Kratos and held on for the best. That's one thing I really try to bring out in Ran-Chan. She's much different from Anna - but she still loves him. Bringing Anna back last chapter is not meant just to make Kratos available to Ran-Chan in this world, but to make Kratos a little bit more mortal than he had been before. He missed her, and now she's in the other world, which in the story I've refered to as "Heaven", mostly because I don't know what to call it... He knows that her soul is safe, and that makes him a lot easier to get along with. So, even though I write this fanfiction for myself and to make me happy, I still would want Anna to have a major influence of him... yeah... well... STOP DOING THAT!

PLEASE... FORGIVE ME, CAPICORN! Here's why: Ah, I must apologize to my dear friend Cap-san! In this part of the story, you hear something about the desians coming back. Not only are you a fan of and member of the desians and I'm sorry, but I've almost slated Forcy-san in that role of leading the comeback! However, I didn't, and I'm trying to think of a way to blame Rodyle for everything because Magnius was blown up, Mithos slaughtered the Pro-demon, Kratos just so sexily destroyed Kvar, and you oh so love Forcy-san... I could never use him that way! Ran-Chan apologizes tons and tons of times... eek!

Tales of Love

Installment 6

"Yuan's Secret: The Truth of Triet"

Tears streamed down Ran-Chan's face as she sat there at the table in the kitchen, not saying a word. Kratos had been fumbling about the cabnets, looking for different things to prepare food with, even though he was still talking with her while doing so.

"I know you're upset," Kratos said when he finally found a skillet he could use. "It's pretty unsettling for me, too. I can't imagine another day without you there beside me," he added, being completely truthful. "Besides, I don't need to go to Luin anymore... once this is over, we're going back to Iselia, Ran-Chan. We'll both teach together, how's that sound?"

"...Kratos-sama," Ran-Chan said quietly, "I... must go to Mizuho..."

Kratos nodded, cracking some eggs in the skillet. The heat from the stove made the eggs crackle and pop. "You're right. I want to talk to your father personally and tell him all about how his daughter is a wonderful person, and how well she's perfected his sword style," he said, putting down some toast. "He must be one proud dad, hmm?"

"...proud... of me?" she asked, wiping her eyes only so more tears could replace them. "No, I rather doubt that... he would be upset. I joined a military, I gave up my rights in Hiemdall, announced to everyone that I'm not really a full elf... I took up the sword, when he instictly told me that violence should not be the way... I wanted to join the ranks of Mizuho's ninjas... no, he's very angry with me."

The eggs were finished, so Kratos slid them off onto a plate and as the toast popped up, he put them on the same plate, then slid them over to Ran-Chan. "It's what I could find," he said, cracking some more eggs. "Anyway... Ran-Chan... as a father myself, I know what it's like to see someone as a child... and I know what it's like to feel proud of your own child..." he said very quietly as he let her poke at the fried eggs.

"I know about Lloyd," she instantly snapped as she put the eggs between the two pieces of toast, eating it like a sandwich. "I know you're a father. More than once, I'll say," she added, knowing that would catch his attention.

Kratos instantly turned around and dropped the spatula on the floor. "More than once," he repeated, scared of the words. "You-" He bent down to pick up the spatula he dropped , then turned off the stove. "I'm not going to lose this chance to raise my own child," he said, walking to her. "I am sorry that I have done this to you..." Kratos wrapped his arms around her, placing his ear on her stomach. "To the both of you..." It was amazing that he forgot anything about eating after the message was put out. "Yuan had better hurry up with the Reiards."

The young mother-to-be stood up and walked over to the stove, after prying herself out of Kratos' arms. "I'll make Yuan some lunch. That will make him want to help... well, make him want to help me at least," she said with a smile. "I've been so scared of actually having you in my life," she said, digging out some bread, eggs, and milk. "Because I was afraid that I was going to have to let you go once I had you," she continued, dragging out some bowls. "...that's why I've been so standoffish."

"You're much stronger than you seem," Kratos said quietly as he glanced at the door. "You are... much more than meets the eye, but then again... that's the same for anyone I ever met," he added with a small chuckle.

A brush of blue hair flew into the room as Yuan walked in. His hair wasn't in a ponytail anymore, but braided and pulled up so it wouldn't get in the way of his garage duty. "Ah," he said quietly, "The lady in the kitchen, I would like to make a request."

"I don't do requests," Ran-Chan stated plainly, cracking the eggs in to a bowl. "But... I do specials..." she added after a few minutes, noticing grease on his face. "Yuan, I'll bring yours to you. Just wait. You've not had Yoshio's favorite dish yet, have you! It's not elven, and it's not from Mizuho." Her face showed a strange healthy and happy glow, shining into the world a lie of security. "I learned to make it back when my family was still together... so it's a food of my memory..."

"That's not what I'm talking about," Yuan stated plainly. "Don't cook for me." He tried to flash his beautiful pink wings before the two again, but all it did was create a strange awkward silence around the kitchen. "I was wondering what you have planned with the reiards. Are you going to keep them after you see Origin?"

Kratos' red hair fluffed up a bit as he turned to look at Ran-Chan. "Probably not. We'll fly back here, then walk back to Iselia," he replied as he stared into her blue eyes. "Yuan, old friend, we shouldn't stay here very long anyway. I want to help you as much as I want to help her," he added, standing up. "Come to think of it, Ran-Chan, I'm not hungry, either."

"Memoria," Yuan said quietly. "I want you to live. Martel wants you to live!"

Ran-Chan looked off to the side, slowly taking a breath and releasing her sigh. She was tired, but more than that, she was angry. She didn't know why herself, but she did know that she was infuriated about something. "Thank you," she said quietly, feeling her feet fall from under her. "Ahh!"

She landed in Kratos' arms with a snuggle against her cheek. "That's what happens when you overwork a pregnant woman, you know," he said, "So, Yuan, where are the quarters? We'll borrow a room for the rest of the day, if you don't mind. Or... do you?"

With a smile, Yuan shrugged as he turned toward the door. "If you aren't going to eat, you might want to sleep, but the personell quarters were destroyed a long time ago. I accedentally blew up a machine on that end trying to get it to work, but it totally disentegrated one of the walls, if you could believe that," he said whimsically, laughing at himself. "My PERSONAL room, however, still survived because I put it on the opposite end of the base!"

Muffling his laughter, Kratos gave Yuan a strange look. "I'd never want to ask to sleep in there... I know what kind of things you do in your room, Yuan," Kratos said, not trying to be too mean to his best friend remaining, though it seemed there was no other way to be. "So would you require any help with the reiards?"

"...I'm not a pervert like you, Kratos," Yuan said quietly as he tapped Ran-Chan on the head lightly. "Though I do believe that my sheets are clean. Or will be, until the both of you get to them. I'd have to wash my sheets five times 'fore I could sleep in them."

"Are you implying that I'm dirty?" Ran-Chan asked, finally bursting out in laughter. "Just what are you thinking, Yuan?"

Yuan turned around dramatically and just smiled to the wall as if he had fallen in love with it instead of his half-elven beauty as he said, "Only an angel's thoughts," when he turned to leave. "I'll go back to work now."

"...work?" Kratos said with a raised eyebrow as he glanced over at the eggs and toast on the table. "He thinks that just being himself is work," he muttered, going to sit back down at the table. "Then what is it about the reiards he's working on?"

"The absence of summon spirits might have something to do with it," Ran-Chan answered, taking up a fork and shoving the blunt end in her left ear, trying to clean it out. Obviously, the girl had never heard of a regular human Q-tip, Kratos thought when she pulled it back out and cleaned the ear wax off of it. "The power of Volt is what made them work before, and I'm not so sure what happened with the spirits back when the world became whole again. They only existed because of mana links. Now the worlds don't need the mana links," she reasoned as she cleaned out her other ear with the same fork.

He sighed slowly, noticing that she never really had the chance to learn much manners since she'd been living alone for so long. "I haven't heard you think this much in a while," Kratos mentioned, trying not to let the whole fork in the ear situation bother him too much. His orphanage-mother would have drove a wooden stake through her heart if she ever caught a glimpse of that happening anywhere near a kitchen.

"Domestic things like cleaning really help me think, and it was perfect time since my ears needed to be cleaned, it worked out perfectly," she replied as she tossed the fork across the entire room and into the sink. Her face was smiling like she usually was, though it didn't seem to be right for a smile at that time. If what she said was true, and the summon spirits weren't around anymore, then how were they going to fly to Hiemdall? What happened to consorting with Origin?

"I hate this," Kratos said aloud finally, after letting dozens of questions race through his mind. "It seems like fate won't let me resolve problems that I have started," he breathed out quietly just as Yuan re-entered the room, this time, much more grim than he had been previously.

With his beautiful blue locks covering half of his face, Yuan had his arms crossed. "That means that your problems have been resolved, old friend. The reiards are never going to work again. The magitechnology that made them will not function properly, and without Volt, it's completely useless to even try," he sputtered, finally pushing his bangs behind his ear. "Kratos, it's best you don't go to Origin or Hiemdall for that matter."

"Why?" Ran-Chan asked. "Because he's a summon spirit, he'd know what to-"

"That's just it," Yuan interrupted her quickly, "Origin, like the rest of the summons, is long gone now."

A cold wind blew through that tiny little place, though there was no real air currents except the door to let air in. Ran-Chan pulled down her collar and smiled slightly. "This thing can't leave me without Origin's help. Only his magic can..."

"Only his magic?" Kratos repeated, inside questioning his memories. "The summon spirits were concentrations of solid mana. Now that we no longer have the links to worry about, I'm sure the mana was returned to the planet as it should have," he reasoned aloud, trying to sort his thoughts. "High concentrations of mana with power like Origin's." He held his chin with his hand lightly, making him look quite strange to his companions.

"You mean, you want to find a mana spring?" Yuan asked as Ran-Chan's eyes were shuffling between the two of them. "Mana springs are rare, Kratos. Listen, this is impossible to deal with, so take Memoria back to Iselia before someone finds you here."

"Finds?" Ran-Chan asked, shocked that Yuan would say a thing like that. "You're only joking, aren't you, Yuan! I know that the Desians would never-"

Yuan just grunted and shrugged. "The Desians, like everyone else, can be free if you are taken out," he said much more quietly, "I've heard rumors that someone who looks like Rodyle is still alive. He and his loyal band of Neo-Desians are planning on trying to realize Mithos' dream without Cruxis and without a chosen. Well, not really..." He locked eyes with Ran-Chan, slowly coming closer to their table. "...there is someone they'd gladly sacrifice for the Glory of the Age of Half-Elves."

"I'm a half-elf," Ran-Chan retorted, finding herself creeping back from where Yuan was leaning in closer to her. "My mother was an elf and my father was a human, that makes me half and half!" She expressed her deep anger at Yuan, though he didn't deserve her rage. "I'm not an angel anymore... and I'd gladly give up my elven blood, but if I wasn't a half-elf, I would have died... possibly in a Human Ranch or during a huge explosion of the Kharlan War or something! It's both of my parents, the fact that I have both elven and human mental instabilities... that makes me who I am. No elf or human OR Desian can take that away from me." For the first time, though she was scared, Ran-Chan shed no tears. She didn't even sound fearful.

"Rodyle is dead," Kratos stated cleanly, noticing how tense and angry he sounded, "Lloyd and everyone... plus myself... worked to defeat him. All of the Desian Cardinals are gone!"

"Not as much as you might think," Yuan said as he slammed down a booklet of photos he'd recieved from a bar buddy. "One thing always works when you run a bar. You're always the king of gossip."

Kratos grunted as he said, "You realize we've no time for your damn gossip."

Ran-Chan opened the booklet anyway to find something like a modern day photograph taken of a man who looked just like Rodyle frounging around in Triet of all places. "That is him. The one who invented the Blood Seal's concept and convinced Mithos to use me," she said, swallowing the saliva that had gathered in her mouth as it was dry. "That man who set me up and made me a slave!"

"A slave," Yuan repeated. "Yes, Rodyle was way too cunning for his own good. It was a good thing we had Lloyd and co. defeat him, as Botta and I would have lost rather gruesomely," he added, watching Kratos almost crack a grin, though it didn't happen. "Anyway, we have to get you out of here, Memoria. They'll be coming for the Reiards to help find you."

"No, I won't run!" Ran-Chan said. "I am a Mizuho Ninja AND Kratos' best student from before the Kharlan War. If I run into them, then," when she paused, she drew her katana very proudly, "then I'll do this world a favor and kill him a second time." She was so still with her deathglare that she really didn't notice how funny the air smelled.

"Kratos, did you flatulate!" Yuan asked, waving his arm trying to get the smell away from him. "Damn, that stinks... whoever put that out is going to get it, once it stops making me dizzy," he said, shaking his head quickly to make sure he was still in control of his muscles.

A few hairs stood on the back of all three friend's neck when a very familiar and scraggly voice said from the door, "Oh you will, will you?"

Yuan leaped onto the other side of the table to help Kratos protect Ran-Chan from this new person entering the room. "Dammit, I should have told you this the night she got herself drunk," he stated, which was obviously a little bit too late.

"Yes, you should have," Kratos grunted, looking for another exit. Sadly, there wasn't one that he could find, so he had to think of a plan while dealing with an enemy. Multi-tasking was never a problem with Kratos before, so it didn't really bother him at all.

Indeed it was Rodyle, completely revived and cured from the serum that he had given himself many years before, in all his nose's pointy glory. "The last one!" he cried, smiling to Ran-Chan, "Such a selfish little girl to have lived so long and still put up a fight for your life. Tell me, deary, are you really going to try and fight me, when you've been breathing this uncirculated air which is so stale and poisoned?"

"You haven't poisioned anything," Yuan said, "Stop bluffing. You took Botta and it's my turn for revenge." He pulled his swallow from his cape and lept back over the table, charging angrily. "Feel the pain of loss as you burn in hell!"

"What the? Yuan, you copied my line!" Kratos said, using Yuan's diversion to use his Light Spear Cannon on the wall, knocking a huge hole through it. "Ran-Chan, come on! The sand won't hurt us only at this height."

Ran-Chan ran to the whole and looked down to find many people dressed as Desians were waiting for their departure. "Kratos-sama, the sand might not hurt us, but I swear they will!" she shouted, preparing to make a dive attack combo. "...I mean, if we aren't careful, that is."

Kratos ran over and glanced down, wishing that he still had his wings. "Yuan, we need to get out of here!" he shouted, seeing Yuan flying back toward him. "Oh, shit," he swore, snatching Ran-Chan's waist to dive out of the whole on the wall.

The couple landed in the middle of a circle of Desian look-a-likes.

"I never really liked Desians much," Ran-Chan said quietly when Kratos let her go. She all ready had her sword drawn, and Kratos soon followed suit. "So any revamp of 'em won't look too pleasing to me, either," she said finally, noticing Yuan had landed between her and Kratos.

"He's much stronger," Yuan said, leaning on his swallow with a blood streak from his cracked bottom lip. "Much more than before..." he looked as if he wanted to pass out, but was pushing himself against it fiercely. "I don't know what to do..."

From the whole in the wall Kratos created, Rodyle's ugly pointed nose pointed in their direction. "Capture them all alive. I'm quite sure one won't cooperate without the other two still with them," he laughed, pulling his head back in. "I've never had easier prey in my entire work as a Desian Grand Cardinal!"

Ran-Chan just gritted her teeth angrily, noticing her feet were all ready getting weak from standing still so much. She hadn't experienced combat as a mortal since she was in the Kharlan War, which gave her an extreme disadvantage. "Kratos-sama," she said, having a hard time standing, "I..."

Kratos looked behind him and saw her knees shake while Yuan was breathing hard in the heat. He was sure he could have protected them both just a few days ago, but in his current state, he felt his confidence slip. Desians took Anna from him, and if he fell, what would stop them from taking Ran-Chan, too? Just because he took eyes off of Anna for a split second fighting off Kvar's men... she was lost to him forever... Now was he going to let Desians destroy his future again? "No," he breathed out. "You're fine. I'll protect you. Both of you."

Yuan laughed as he pushed Ran-Chan behind him and Kratos. "I don't need to be protected, Kratos," he said, making the first move. "It's time!" He rose his swallow quickly, slicing though two enemies at once. "Kratos, I've got this side," he said, after finishing three more.

Ran-Chan tried to gather some strength to help, but nothing came. "I can't... as a mortal... I'm..." she sighed, looking at the sword she so proudly wore on her hip every day. "I'm not good for anything in a mortal form," she quietly breathed to herself, feeling her Blood Seal burn.

Kratos made his way through half of the enemies with no problem, but Yuan was lacking. It seemed that everytime he lifted his swallow, he ended up thrusting it in the wrong direction or falling over, defeating his half of the foes on a fluke. Kratos felt the weight of his breath, and knew that they weren't going to make it past the second round of enemies... if there was a second round.

"Damn you," Yuan cursed, getting knocked in the back of the head with the hilt of a sword. He hit the sand with a thud, almost landing on the female member of the group.

Ran-Chan took her feeble courage and faced Yuan's enemies with a very worried expression. "My father was mortal, and he was able to face anything," she said aloud, trying to give herself a bit more courage than she had before. She took the sword and gripped it with her left hand, thinking of a way that she could attack every single one of them with just one blade, perhaps just one attack. When she thought of a tornado, it was enough to propell her into the next thought. "That's right!" she said, walking away from Kratos.

"What are you doing!" Kratos asked worriedly. "Can you really...!" He started to turn around, but had to deal with an enemy of his own. "Get back here!"

"I won't have you caught in this," she answered. "Dance of the Sword," she named it, spinning blindly with her katana tightly in her left hand, and her right pulled in to determine her center of gravity. "This is it," she said, defeating the other half of enemies. Though it did cost her, she was completely dizzy and fell over right as Rodyle came out of the entrance Kratos and Ran-Chan used before.

"What a marvelous beauty. If I didn't have to use her, I'd almost marry the girl," Rodyle laughed as he started to pick her up off the ground. "Well, capture Kratos!" he said to the remaining few Desian lackeys as Kratos fought back. "I'm quite sure that this Cruxis Crystal has enough power in it to bring the mana together," he said, pulling Ran-Chan's collar down to see the Blood Seal in full. He was quiet for a while, and Kratos didn't know if he was being a pervert or if he was actually analyzing the rune itself. "Runarium..." he trailed off as one of Rodyle's famed baby dragons lifted the uncoinciuss Yuan to the sky.

Kratos was completely able to slay the last Desians running around so he could deal with just Rodyle himself. "Let her go. Now," Kratos breathed out angrily.

"Afraid another Desian will steal away your lady love?" Rodyle asked him with an evil grin. "You've got an Exsphere, still, don't you?" he walked carefully to Kratos, seeing the exsphere on it's key crest as it had been since he donned it. "With the ways you have built it up, I'm sure it is as powerful as a Cruxis Crystal! I do not wish harm on anyone of you."

"You want to kill Memoria just to relieve Mithos' magic from you," Kratos said. "I believe that is harm."

"So you believe. She's not going to die," Rodyle said, waving to signal another dragon. "However she won't do anything without you. I am going to have to take all three of you to ensure cooperation." He shrugged then scratched his chin as he nodded. "Yes."

A dragon claw nailed Kratos on the back of the neck, making him fall into the sand. "Forgive me," he said in a whisper as the dragon picked him up with it's talons. "It was never meant to be like this..."

Rodyle climbed onto the dragon with Ran-Chan in his arms. Suddenly, the two dragons lifted up into the sky as their master just thought aloud since he knew that no one was going to hear him. "She's a half-elf," he said, not believing his own words. "And she's pregnant. Kratos, you naughty boy. It's not right... with her pregnant, she won't be able to give up the power that I demand..."

Ran-Chan wasn't dizzy anymore, but she pretended to be. Now was not the time to jump up and accedentally fall from whatever height they were at to the ground. "Oww," she muttered quietly as Rodyle just calmly rubbed a spot on the back of her neck. How'd he know that was one of her very weak spots? As he rubbed it and she fell into a real slumber, she thought of Kratos, scared for his life.

"A weakness for those who are native to Hiemdall's forest happens to be the setsuna spot there," Rodyle answered her silent question. "And I know all about you. Being a fighter from Mizuho, a native of Hiemdall, and a former angel that broke the curse due to love... Yes. I chose you from every other fighter due to your one, single flaw. You were the most dedicated to anyone that I had seen... and because I was able to chose you, Mithos rewarded me a position in the Desians." He said to her, as if she could actually hear him. "Because I knew in the end, you would be coming back to me." Rodyle sighed, noticing how close they were to his secret place. "And here you are! That child in your womb growing should have... that child should have been mine..."

The dragons landed without being ordered to. Yuan and Kratos were still both out of it, and Rodyle had a few of his waiting henchmen grab them. They knew where the guests were to go, and so they had no orders exchanged between the master and the little servants.

"Just lay them down. They must find each other when they wake, or they won't cooperate," Rodyle ordered sharply, placing Ran-Chan on a pillow top upright operating table. "That should be rather comfy," he said to her, strapping up her arms and legs to the table. "So I'll just remove that Crystal while you sleep, if you don't mind."

"No!" Ran-Chan screamed in her sleep. "Kratos-sama...!"

Rodyle flinched and stared at her curiously. "Perhaps she would be more still if she was awake," he thought aloud, glancing over to see that Kratos and Yuan were waking up slowly, though they were strapped to the wall. "And she could see he was alive," he finished, glancing back over to see Ran-Chan's eyes were open.

"Rodyle?" she asked tiredly. "What are you... doing alive!" Ran-Chan had not yet noticed she was bound to an operating table or that Kratos was against the wall across the room from her. "Why did you kill..."

"You mean your dear Kratos. He's alive," Rodyle said very quietly. "How am I alive? I'll just tell you that the hatred for Yggdrasil, the hatred of that Lloyd, and the burning desire to rule the planet with all of the Desian goody-two-shoes dead made it so easy to revive me." He ruffled her hair and then whispered, "so did my desire to finally have a woman that could assist me in my dream."

Ran-Chan's face revealed total disgust. "I'd never," she said, feeling her head hurt again. "I'd never.. ever... EVER assist you."

"Not even if... I spared your friend's lives?"

"Yuan... Kratos..."

"You'd kill them once I gave you what you want, you pointy nosed bastard!"

"Don't tease me about my nose. I severly advise you not talk anything about my nose," Rodyle said angrily as he used a finger to run along her face. "I hate that," he added quickly, using the fact that she was bound to his table to force a kiss on her lips.

She felt as if she was going to shrivel up into a prune and then dry up into dust after that kiss. "Rodyle, you chose me to bear the Blood Seal. You made me into your ginuea pig to see if it would work. Mithos believed in your theory and with Altessa's help, you made me into what I am," she said with her eyes closed. "You didn't know if I was going to succeed... I want... peace. That's all. I'm human again. Kratos helped me break my curse... what do you want with me now, Rodyle?"

"Your Cruxis Crystal."

"That's all?"

"I'd love to take advantage of you at this very moment, but I feel as if my triumph over the world is much more important than some mortal instinct," Rodyle added carefully, picking himself off of the chair he had been sitting on. "I'll leave you to think about it. Your Cruxis Crystal is all I ask and I will let all three of you go. Right now, I've got to take care of other things."

Another Authoress Note: I hate stories without a villain, so I really had to make a true villain. Now Rodyle's starting a world domination spout, and I know exactly what you all are thinking. "Rodyle is dead." "This story shouldn't even be!" "RAWR you ate my donuts!" Well keep your thoughts to yourself... unless it's a good one. Then you should review.


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